PIONEER RELEASES A NEW ALL-IN-ONE CONTROLLER

Just a few days ago, Pioneer released its new all-in-one entry-level DJ controller, the XDJ-RR. Think of it as a budget XDJ-RX2.

You have to be either blind or deaf to NOT know who Pioneer is. Their products have been the standard in clubs, festivals and home setups alike around the world for years. Think of any iconic dance music moment in recent years; and I assure you with 99% certainty that there was a Pioneer product involved somewhere. They are the absolute kings in the modern day DJ equipment market, and, this past Wednesday, marked the debut of their new all-in-one controller, the XDJ-RR.

The XDJ lineup consists of independent DJ controllers (by independent I mean “laptop free”). They were created to mimic the layout in the top of the line CDJs and DJMs, but in a much smaller footprint. And while the XDJ-RR seems like a good option to consider, this product has fans and buyers baffled. It maintains many of the features of its bigger brother, the RX2, like USB recording, 2 USB inputs, 7-inch display, performance pads with cues, etc; and its flaws are nothing major: no touchscreen, smaller, lighter, and fewer pads to mess around with. All this is yours for around 1000€, which is 500€ less than its brother.

The problem (small rant incoming) is that this is a confusing price point for Pioneer, and we wonder: will there be buyers to justify the price tag? For the same price, you can get the DDJ-1000, which has more effects to play with, 2 more channels, and twice the performance pads. Also, as a tech lover, I can’t get over the fact of how outdated the screens look on there controllers. With so many high refresh rate displays with silky-smooth animations, why haven’t these found their way into the DJ equipment market? That’s why I personally prefer to have my own DDJ-RR connected with my laptop’s much better screen. The “elephant in the room” is really how much is the “independent” part of the controller worth to you, the buyer? Is it really worth 500€? We leave that up to you.